


Fish On!

by Jerevinan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Childhood, Fishing, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 16:50:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10745844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerevinan/pseuds/Jerevinan
Summary: Noctis stays up late watching a new show and is inspired to catch a fish not known for surviving in waters around Insomnia. Luckily, he has the marshal to help him.





	Fish On!

**Author's Note:**

> There have been new episodes of River Monsters airing, so I've been inspired to write this. Let's pretend it takes place in Eos. shhhh.

Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum is up early. 

Ignis doesn’t expect to find him fully dressed when they join up before breakfast. The eleven-year-old is wearing everything but his shoes, an infectious grin on his face. His tackle box is resting beside his leg. His pole is slung over his shoulders. 

“We’re going fishing, Ignis!”

That isn’t in the schedule. Ignis pulls his pocket planner out and skims over the day’s events. Nothing suggests they have the free time for fishing. Noctis is on school break, but there is still homework. The two of them have training with Gladiolus for most of the afternoon following their time in the library. 

“We can’t go fishing, Noct. I’m sorry.”

“We are! I asked Cor, and he’s driving us.”

If Cor has agreed to take Noctis, there is no doubt he has run these plans by the king first. Ignis wouldn’t mind the day off, but there’s one more problem to solve.

“Will Gladio be coming?” asks Ignis. “He’s not going to be happy when he hears you’re skipping out today.”

Noctis shook his head. “No way. He’s too noisy when he comes along. Always tells me what to do!” 

“What inspired all this?” Ignis looks at the excited expression on the prince’s face and notes some new revelations—there are bags under his eyes, and he’s perhaps a bit _too_ hyper. “Noct, did you sleep?”

Noctis quiets, one socked foot sliding along the carpet like a windshield wiper.

“It wasn’t nightmares.” 

That much is easy for Ignis to figure out. Noctis is far crabbier and less likely to roll out of bed if he hasn’t slept because of something so taxing on his energy.

“And you don’t appear sick, either.”

Noctis won’t make eye contact with him. “I stayed up watching a show.”

“Noctis,” scolds Ignis.

“It was cool, Ignis! This guy goes around the world catching freshwater fish when he hears about attacks. It’s investigative fishing.” It must have taken Noctis all night to come up with that phrase, or he has snagged it directly from the program in question.

“River Monsters?” asks Ignis. He has heard of the show; it airs much too late for the prince to watch it, and the ratings on it recommend a more mature audience due to the macabre nature of some of the attacks and reenactments. He refrained from mentioning the show to Noctis for months and hoped he wouldn’t find out about it until he was suitably old enough to see it.

“They had a marathon,” says Noctis. He props his fishing rod against the wall and spreads out his arms as long as he can stretch them. “They caught an arapaima bigger than this! Did you know we have those in the Vesperpool?”

“I’ve heard that, yes.” Ignis will never disclose how many books and magazines on fish that he has read for Noctis’ sake, but they are numerous. What kind of advisor would he grow up to be if he didn’t pay attention to Noctis’ passions? It’s as important to keep him happy as it is to keep him safe. Misery would only lead to bad health.

“Does Cor know you stayed up all night?” asks Ignis.

Noctis shakes his head. “No way, he’d tell Dad.”

“Good. I doubt his Majesty would let you go fishing if he found out the truth. But Noct?” Ignis attempts a severe expression, and Noctis feigns contrition. “Please don’t stay up late all night to watch marathons. I doubt your father would find that material age appropriate.”

“I’m not scared. It didn’t bother me at all!”

“Yes, I’m sure that argument works often with King Regis.”

Noctis makes a face. “Ignis, you should get ready. You’re not dressed for finding piranhas.”

Ignis glances at the cuffs of his crisply ironed dress shirt and fidgets. He hardly has any casual clothing in his wardrobe these days. “Wait, piranha?”

Noctis nods. “Yeah, I’m gonna catch piranhas in the reservoir.”

“Noctis, there aren’t any piranhas in Insomnia. They’re far to the west, near the Vesperpool.”

“I bet I can find some. Did you know people sometimes keep them as pets and then throw them out? Maybe I’ll find some that way.”

Ignis suspect Insomnia gets far too cold for the fish to survive, but he doesn’t want to stomp all over Noctis’ enthusiasm. Not today, not ever. 

“Very well. Is Cor coming back for us or will we be meeting him elsewhere?”

“He’s coming to get us, but you have to get dressed first!” Noctis pushes Ignis toward the door. “Hurry before he gets back!”

Ignis sighs and goes to his room to find something inexpensive and casual to wear.

~*~

“Cor, you can’t use just any bait to catch a piranha.”

Ignis puts a finger over his lips when the proprietor of the tackle shop opens his mouth to say what everyone else has tried to tell Noctis. The old fellow blinks before he sighs and leans against the counter to wait out the discussion.

“What bait do you need?” asks Cor. They have only been at the reservoir’s tackle shop for a few minutes and the marshal sounds exhausted.

“Something bloody. It’ll attract them when it smells it in the water!”

Cor flicks his eyes toward the bait shop owner. The elderly man raises an eyebrow and shakes his head, and Ignis waits for him to tell them to leave. The proprietor’s patience has been stretched thin, and he’s only humoring them because there is no one else there. The reservoir is deader than usual, and it normally isn’t a lively place. Fishing as a hobby is more popular outside the wall, where catch-and-release isn’t the law.

“They don’t have anything like that here,” states Cor. 

Noctis scowls. “That’s why no one thinks Insomnia has piranhas. They don’t know how to catch them.” 

Three people hold back their groans. 

“If you want to get some fresh meat, there’s a grocery store down the street,” says the proprietor.

“Thanks,” says Cor, taking Noctis by the shoulders and herding him to a quieter part of the shop. He kneels down in front of Ignis. “Would you fetch it? I can’t leave his Highness unattended, and I don’t want to drag all three of us on an errand.”

Ignis nods and accepts money for the transaction from Cor. He has never had the freedom to walk around the city, but if he is to be Noctis’ advisor, the new responsibility comes as a challenge he’s willing to face. He can handle the traffic; this part of Insomnia is quiet and defiant of the city’s name, a sleepy little neighborhood with outdated houses and corner stores. People hang their laundry out on their patios. A child draws in the dirt next to a patch of home grown tomatoes in nothing but a pair of shorts and sandals. 

Ignis is afraid of getting lost, so he pulls out his phone and ticks off the names of streets and numbers in a note so he can follow it back to the reservoir. Not that it would be hard to get back to the lake. It’s huge, and there are signs advertising it along the way.

The corner shop is quaint and lovely. Ignis is greeted immediately by an older gentleman who asks if he needs any help.

“I’m looking for fresh meat for fishing bait,” admits Ignis, too embarrassed to mention Noctis’ insane ambition.

The man leads him over and helps him pick out a small but reasonably sized package of meat. Ignis pockets the change and hurries back, never once having to check his careful street notes.

“Ignis, we’re over here!” Noctis shouts at Ignis from one of the docks. “Cor already got us a license for today!”

Ignis hands Cor his change and the receipt while he passes the bag over to Noctis. Within minutes, Noctis has cast out a line with a chunk of meat on the end of the hook.

“Don’t you fish?” Cor asks Ignis.

Ignis shakes his head. “No, I only watch and help when I’m needed.” He seldom needs to assist, since Noctis is now old enough to pull in the largest of the reservoir fish. They don’t get that big in Insomnia, in part from overfishing in the past. The industry had a devastating impact on the populations, which was why the catch and release laws had been placed on all fish within the reservoir. The only exceptions made were invasive species. If Noctis lands a piranha, he’ll be allowed to keep it.

Ignis takes a seat in a chair. Cor remains on his feet, performing an obvious patrol of the area. He has never been discreet during these outings with the prince, and being put in charge of children always makes him anxious. 

Noctis casts out his line and grins at Ignis. Usually they’re all quiet—otherwise, Noctis gets angry that they’ll frighten away the fish.

Half an hour passes without any bites on the line. Ignis considers a trip to the vending machine near the tackle shop to grab an Ebony, despite that he always carries around a thermos filled with cool water if he’s leaving anywhere. It weighs down on his bag, but coffee sounds too nice to pass up. He gives into the temptation, digging out a bit of cash. He’ll grab Noctis a soda, too.

Nothing has taken the bite when Ignis returns.

“Thanks, Ignis,” says Noctis as Ignis pops the cap of his drink and hands it over.

The morning sun reflects off the water’s surface. It hits Ignis’ glasses, too, so he turns away and focuses on enjoying his can of Ebony. Sometimes Cor helps by blocking the light as he paces around the dock.

“Fish on!”

Ignis recognizes the line from River Mosnters as Noctis cries it. It would be funnier if it wasn’t a fish at all on the other end of the line, but then Noctis will be disappointed. And he’s going to be upset enough as it is when he can’t manage a piranha.

Whatever is on the line is formidable, though. Noctis grips his pole and makes a series of surprised noises from his throat as he struggles with reeling.

“It’s big,” he whispers in awe as Ignis sets his can of Ebony down and rushes over to assist.

Cor is there, too, and just in time—the prince refuses to let go of the rod, but the fish is strong enough that Noctis loses his footing and falls forward. Cor scoops him up by the waist with one strong arm before he can be pulled into the water. One larger hand cups the smaller one on the reel.

They remain like that for twenty minutes as they cooperate in landing whatever monster nearly sent his Royal Highness into the depths of the reservoir. Cor doesn’t make a sound of complaint. Not even his face betrays his discomfort. In fact, the marshal seems to be enjoying himself.

“Lean over this way,” says Cor in a patient voice. “There you go. You’re doing well.”

“It’s gonna be huge!” Noctis grins and obeys all of Cor’s gentle instructions. Cor does most of the reeling.

There is a sizeable shape in the water when Cor reaches down with the grippers and clamps its lower lip. He releases the prince next to him to free up his second hand and haul it onto the dock. The hook is carefully dislodged from the wide mouth of some kind of catfish. 

“It’s massive,” whispers Ignis, eyes wide. 

“Must be at least fifty pounds,” agrees Cor.

“And I caught it!” Although Cor doesn’t correct Noctis, the prince adds, “With help.”

“Well, you did have the right idea, since it took your bait,” says Cor encouragingly. “I don’t think anyone has caught a fish over fifteen pounds in decades.”

“Ignis, get your phone and take a picture!”

Noctis kneels down next to the fish and puts his hands on either side of its tail, beaming up at the camera as if he caught it without the help of a rod, much less the marshal.

“Thanks, Cor!” Noctis admires the fish a bit longer before he sighs. “We have to put it back.”

“It’s the law,” says Cor.

“Even for a prince?”

“Especially for a prince. You have to show the people an example.”

“There’s no one here. They’ll never know. And you two won’t tell on me.”

Ignis intervenes, because it looks like Cor is considering how they might fit the large fish into the back of the Regalia.

“Noct, we’d have to sneak it into the Citadel.” Cor opens his mouth, but Ignis hurries on with more logical reasons. “Even if you did get through security, you would have to take it to the cooks and explain to them where you managed to get a catfish. Most importantly, larger fish will help the reproduction of species in this reservoir. If you let it loose, it’ll help mend the population.”

“Which means even more big fish,” says Noctis, catching on.

“I could’ve managed it past the guards,” says Cor, but he picks the fish up in both hands and walks off the dock toward the shore of the reservoir. Even with his Crowndguard outfit on—including his boots—he wades into the water carefully and lowers the fish, letting it recover in the water for several minutes before he releases it.

Noctis groans as his impressive catch disappears into the depths.

“You did well, Noct,” says Ignis.

“Wasn’t a piranha, but it was better,” says Noctis. Like the catfish, it doesn’t take long for him to be ready to go again. “All right, there’s more bait, so I’m gonna try again!” 

He takes off for the dock, leaving Ignis and Cor behind. 

“It’s going to be a long afternoon,” says Cor, but he’s smiling. It turns out, Noctis’ enthusiasm is contagious, because Cor does less pacing and more waiting for the next “big one” than the fishing enthusiast. 

Several days later, Cor invites them out for fishing again, and he brings along brand new fishing gear for himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like Cor stole the show. :') 
> 
> Cor wasn't originally going to be in it, but when I thought about who would take the boys out since Regis was busy...well, Cor happened. And then it got cute. Damnit.


End file.
